Railroad box car ceiling construction



Feb. 17, 1942. K. F. NYSTYROM 2,273,654

RAILROAD BOX cm CEILING CONSTRUCTION Filed May 15, 1940 19 1a 5!" 21 w m W \\\\u\\\\\\\ a 1 I 1 ,1 A I E W Infinfir.

E i J61 s 20 14 3p 14 (y Patented Feb. 17, 1942 RAILROAD "Box CAR CEILING CONSTRUCTION Karl F. Nystrom, Milwaukee, Wis. Application May1 5, 1940, Serial No. 335,297

, 2 Claims.

My invention relates to the ceiling construction the provision of an easy and secure method of application and at the same time the provision of a smooth ceiling which will prevent damage.

to the lading, such as furniture, cereals and other commodities which may be readily damaged; the method of applying and supporting the plywood ceiling being such that creeping of frost from the roof exterior to the car interior will be eliminated.

The objects and advantages of my invention will all be readily comprehended from the detailed description of the accompanying drawing wherein I Figure 1 is an inverted perspective view of a portion of a box car roof with a portion of the ceiling applied.

Figure 2 is a transverse sectional view of a portion of a car roof and ceiling illustrating the method of supporting the ceiling in place.

Figure 3 is a detail view of a running board saddle in side elevation with my improved purline and ceiling supporting bracket, with the purline and ceiling portions shown in section.

Figure 4 is a detail perspective view of a portion of a purline and portion of a transverse batten.

Figure 5 is a detail sectional view of a portion of the car roof, the side plate, ceiling and inner side lining.

In order to conserve space and eliminate unnecessary weight, plywood is preferably employed for the ceiling of a railroad steel box car because, in addition to being light in weight, it may be readily flexed to the transverse contour of the car roof.

Means must be provided wherebythe plywood ceiling may be readily applied and firmly supported in place without involving metal-to-metal contact between the car roof and ceiling whereby frost would creep to the car interior beneath the ceiling and cause damage to the lading.

My improved method permits the ceiling to be fabricated before the steel roof is applied to the car and in the exemplification disclosed in Figure 1 a portion of the inverted steel roof is shown at I0 and provided on what constitutes its lower or inner surface with a number of purlines I I, I I which extend lengthwise of the car roof on opposite sides of its longitudinal center.

The purlines II each consist of an inverted steel channel I2 provided with a wood purline I3 of thickness commensurate with the depth of the channel I2 and disposed throughout its length and held in place by crimping the sides of the metal channel into the wood purline as shown at I4 in Figure 4.

The metal channel members I2 are rigidly held in place by means of brackets I5 which are shown in the nature of angle plates with one side of each bracket arranged in: lapping relation with the adjacent side of a running board saddle I6 and secured thereto by means of the bolts I'I. The other side of each angle plate is of greater length and extends through the roof and'termi nates in the laterally disposed foot portion I8 arranged in contact with the base of the metal channel, see Figure 3. The foot portion is shown in section in Figure 3 in order to disclose the method of securing the purline channel member thereto. The purline channel member I2 at points coincident with the foot portions I8 of the brackets I5 is preferably provided with holes in its base to receive plug welds as shown at I9 in Figure 3; a suflicient number of brackets I5 being employed throughout the length of the roof in order to rigidly support the purlines in place.

The ceiling, shown at 2|], is composed of sheets of plywood which are of predetermined width as shown in Figure 1 and these sheets cut to length in keeping with the inside width of the car intermediate of the inner side walls of the car; the longitudinal edges of the respective sheets of plywood being preferably arranged in abutting relation as shown.

In order to properly secure the sheets of plywood in place and out of contact with the metal roof, the purlines I2, I3, throughout their lengths and at distances apart corresponding with the predetermined width of the plywood sheets, are provided with recesses or cut-out portions as shown at 2|, see Figures 3 and 4, of predetermined depth to receive transverse battens shown at 22, which extend transversely throughout the width of the car and these battens at their intermediate porti-ons are preferably suitably secured to the wood purlines I3, while the ends of the battens are supported by the car side plates-a portion of one side plate being shown at 23, in Figure 5, and by the inner lining 24 of the car.

The battens 22 are of sufficient width to receive the longitudinal marginal edges of adjacent sheets of plywood and permit the edges of the adjacent sheets to be nailed, screwed, or otherwise securely fastened to the battens as shown at 25.

The plywood ceiling 20 preferably is secured to the wood purlines l3 and to the wood battens 22 by screws which do not contact with any metal of the car construction and hence creeping of frost to the car interior through the screws will be prevented; my improved method providing the car with a smooth ceiling which prevents damage to the lading, especially where the lading consists of furniture, containers or packages of cereals or other similar commodities; while at the same time providing a ceiling which may be readily applied without materially increasing the weight of the car or decreasing its load holding capacity.

As shown in Figure 1, my improved method permits fabrication or application of the ceiling to the roof structure of .the car before the latter is applied overhead to the car and consequently enables the ceiling to be more quickly and easily applied; the roof with applied ceiling as a unit being inverted from the position shown in Figure 1 and secured in place.

I have described the ceiling as composed of sheets of plywood which, in addition to the advantages heretofore mentioned, may be easily handled and flexed to the inner contour of the roof, but it will be understood that sheets of other flexible fibrous material may be employed and secured in place by the method heretofore described whereby the ceiling sheets are held out of immediate contact with the metal roof of the car.

The structure shown and described is believed to be the simplest embodiment of the invention which has been described in terms employed for purposes of description and not as terms of limitation, as modifications may be made without, however, departing from the spirit of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

What I claim is:

1. In a box car ceiling construction, the combination of a sheet metal car roof provided with brackets secured thereto at spaced apart points lengthwise of the roof and at opposite sides of the ridge of the roof; a plurality of outwardly facing channel members arranged lengthwise of the roof and secured to the brackets, the sides of the channels having spaced apart recesses at prearranged points lengthwise of the channels; wood purlines disposed throughout the lengths of the channels and secured therein, the purlines having recesses coincident with the channel recesses; transversely disposed battens arranged in the recesses of the channels and purlines and secured to the purlines; and transversely disposed plywood sheets extending continuously from side to side with their longitudinal edges arranged in abutting relation coincident with the battens and secured thereto so as to provide a smooth uninterrupted ceiling.

2. A prefabricated box car roof and ceiling unit adapted to be applied to a box car and comprising a sheet metal roof provided with running board saddles having brackets disposed to the inner side of the roof at longitudinally spaced points at opposite sides of the longitudinal center line of the roof; inverted metal channels welded to the ends of said brackets and provided with recessed sides; Wood purlines immovably secured in the channels by crimping the sides of the channels and provided with cut-out portions coincident with the recesses in the channels; wood battens disposed transversely through the channel recesses and the cut-out portions of the purlines and secured in flush relation with the outer surfaces of the purlines, and continuous sheets of plywood arranged transversely with their longitudinal edges arranged in abutting relation on the battens and secured thereto so as to provide a smooth uninterrupted ceiling spaced from the roof without frost conducting metal protrusions.

KARL F. NYSTROM. 

